Astros vs Rangers Prediction, Pick and Preview, August 27: MLB

Credit: photo by Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time	7:06 p.m. EST
Astros money line	-263
Astros run line	-2.5 (+100)
Rangers money line	+210
Rangers run line	2.5 (-118)
Over / under	9 (-110)

 

Key stats

	Astros	Rangers
Record	76-52	44-84
Road / home record	35-27	28-35
Last 10 record	6-4	2-8
Streak	W3	L3
Over / under record	69-54-5	63-58-7
Runs / game	5.38	3.81
Runs allowed / game	3.94	5.02

 

Preview

The Astros are back at Globe Life Field for the second of a three-game series against the Rangers in this divisional matchup of first versus fifth in the AL west.  The Astros won 5-4 last night to take a 1-0 lead in this series, their tenth win of the season head-to-head compared to the Rangers' three.  That was the first win by an away team in this contest in 2021.  Houston won each of their last two series 2-1 against Seattle and then Kansas City.  The Rangers have lost each of their last two series 2-1 against the Red Sox and Indians and are currently on a three-game slide.  Texas has the third-worst record in the league but they'll try to defend their home territory after dropping their first home game of the season to the Astros.

Pitching matchup

Astros

Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.94 ERA) Framber Valdez will get his 17th start for the Astros tonight.  Valdez has an ERA of 2.94 and so far this season he's given up 82 hits in 98 innings pitched. Those hits yielded 32 ERs.  In his one meeting against the Rangers in 2021, he pitched for six innings and did not surrender a single hit, but had six walks and four strikeouts.  

Rangers

Kolby Allard (3-10, 4.86 ERA) Kolby Allard will get the ball for the Rangers for his second start of the season against the Astros.  In his previous three games against Houston, he threw for seven innings, gave up seven ERs and had five walks.  In the last month, Allard pitched 24.1 innings and gave up ten ERs.

Prediction

Even though the Astros narrowly pulled off a victory last night, the result is indicative of the way these clubs are trending at the moment.   Now that the home field defense has been broken, expect the Astros to continue their winning ways in game two.

PICK: Astros money line (-263)

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